College Students Show Some Retail Savvy

My sister called me the other night in a complete tizzy. She had been comparison shopping all day and still could not make a decision. Could I help? Da-da-da-da! Big sister to the rescue.

Of course, I could help her (no to the $180 jeans at Nordstrom, and yes to the look-alike pair for less than half the price at American Eagle). Our conversation got me thinking though... Never before would she have spent a day reviewing merchandise – that just wasn’t like her. She’s a college student for crying out loud; typically she would put the $180 pair of jeans on her credit card and call it a day.

It seems as though more college students than ever before are cognizant of how they’re spending their cash. OnCampus Research (a division of the National Association of College Stores – NACS) recently released a survey that showed exactly what I had just experienced with my sister. College students are being – dare we say – more prudent with their funds.

The survey found that:

• College students’ top retail destinations include Walmart and Target.
• They are more concerned with making healthier lifestyle choices (my sister just joined a gym for the first time ever!). In fact, 61 percent of students consume fresh fruit. But, I have to wonder: what are the other 39 percent eating??
• 75 percent of college students’ comparison shop – one of the highest numbers yet.

What does this mean for retailers and big sisters the world over? Well, retailers interested in capturing the college market need to remember that the days of putting goods on mom or dad’s credit card are over. Although not commonly known as being savvy shoppers, college students are starting to catch on. Good for them!

For big sisters, that means being available via phone whenever a shopping “crisis” may occur. Hey, someone’s got to do it.

How does the college student in your life spend money? See any retailers out there who truly know how to capture the market in a healthy way? Leave your comments here.

-Heather Strang

*Photo by Kit from Pittsburgh, USA (Grads Absorb the News) [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Comments

[Heather Strang]

Maya,

Thank goodness for sisters right? I have to talk my sister off the designer ledge several times a month. But now she is catching on and not giving in to the labels when she can get something similar for so much less.

I love your point about the "vintage" aspect. Now, I have been doing this for years, but now it's finally the chic thing to do. Fashion is not relegated to only a few people, and I love that folks (including college stu) are embracing this more than ever.

Thank you for your perspective!
It is always much appreciated!
-Heather :)

[Maya]

Heather, we must be some kindred spirits...my younger sister, who also is in college, always calls me for fashion and shopping advice and almost never goes out shopping without me, even though she lives on a different continent. And you are absolutely right. College students are becoming savvier and feel more responsible about spending mom and dad's cash for something like 180$ jeans. I see this in my sister, her friends and all the students who have interned for me when I was employed at a big company. College students have become real bargain hunters and scourers of the 5$ pair of Lee jeans some store still had in stock from back then. Long gone is the time and the attitude of when I was in college and almost every single girl carried a monogrammed Louis Vuitton Noé bucket bag to school. No kidding. And as for me, I had no trouble at all shlepping my dad to the Paris boutiques a couple of times a year and make him spend a fortune on avant-garde designer fare. My sister, on the other hand, always comes up with the craziest - and the cheapest stuff - sometimes I even HAVE to take her shopping just to avoid being seen with her in her lumpy mustard-coloured poly-blend sweater. But she doesn't care. Even though she loves fashion and is currently studying it, she only very rarely splurges on let's say a nice pair of shoes. It's a definite sign of the times and also of the evolution of fashion. Today anything goes - with so many "cheaper" retailers copying the looks and the designs of the luxury brands, the choice is there. And let's not forget the boom in secondhand - or to say it in a more chic word - vintage (and I am not talking about vintage Dior) which no longer is considered as something only to be shipped to the poor in Africa.
Mentalities have definitely changed. Probably because priorities have.
xxx from very rainy Switzerland
maya